WASHINGTON -- Bryce Harper swung at the 91 mph pitch in the bottom of the 13th inning and could tell right away the ball would end up over the fence. Cheap Air Max China . "I knew it was gone. I mean, I felt it," the 2012 NL Rookie of the Year said. "I havent felt like that in a while. I havent got extension on a ball in a pretty long time." Harpers fourth homer of an injury-interrupted, trying season was a game-ending, two-run shot to the opposite field off righty reliever Carlos Torres, lifting Washington past the New York Mets 5-3 Thursday and giving the Nationals a season-high 4 1/2-game lead in the NL East. "Wanted to put a two-seamer down and away," said Torres (5-5), who struck out Harper on Wednesday. "It didnt move that much, unfortunately." Harper was hitting .250 with 14 RBIs in 2014 entering Thursday, with zero homers since July 18. "Hopefully he rides that for the next couple months and (we) sail off into the sunset," said Ian Desmond, who walked ahead of Harpers homer. Desmond drove in Washingtons first three runs with a two-run homer in the second inning, his 18th, and an RBI single in the fourth -- both off Mets starter Jacob deGrom. So can one swing change things for Harper? "In my mind, Im hoping so. Definitely," he said. Harper missed 57 games because of a torn ligament in his left thumb, returning June 30. He immediately caused a stir that day by publicly offering suggestions for how Williams should arrange his lineup. This week, the morning after Harper went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in a loss to the Mets on Tuesday, Williams was asked on radio station 106.7 The Fan whether it would be a bad idea to send Harper to the minors. When a reporter followed up during Williams pregame news conference Wednesday, the manager vented, saying: "The minute you think you can read my freaking mind, youre sorely mistaken." At the end of his postgame session with reporters Thursday, Williams offered an unprompted mea culpa, saying: "I didnt sleep much last night. So I just wanted to apologize to members of the press for my actions yesterday." The Nationals now head into a three-game series beginning Friday at the reeling second-place Atlanta Braves. Atlanta was off Thursday after an 0-8 road trip against the Dodgers, Padres and Mariners. "Theyre going to want our throat," Harper said. Said Craig Stammen (2-4), who worked three scoreless innings for the win Thursday: "We know these three games will be big because theyre right on our tails." He was Washingtons seventh pitcher. The Mets used eight. Closer Jenrry Mejia left after giving up two hits in his only inning of work, the 12th, and said afterward his right calf was "just a little bit tight." Hours after he left the mound following his 6 1-3 innings of work, Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann was thrilled with the way Harper ended the game. "Were all pulling for him," Zimmermann said. "Hopefully he gets out of this little rut hes in." TRAINERS ROOM Mets: About Mejia, whose right calf was taped up after the game, manager Terry Collins said: "Well find out more tomorrow. If its still bothering him, he certainly wont pitch tomorrow." Nationals: Reserve outfielder Nate McLouth (15-day DL, right shoulder) got an anti-inflammatory injection and was "shut down for a few days to get everything calmed down in there," Williams said. UP NEXT Nationals: Stephen Strasburg (8-9, 3.39 ERA) faces Atlantas Ervin Santana (10-6, 3.59 ERA) in Fridays opener at Atlanta. In 14 career starts against the Braves, Strasburg is 3-5 with a 4.04 ERA, his highest ERA against any team hes faced more than three times. Mets: In the opener of a four-game set at the Phillies, 41-year-old righty Bartolo Colon (10-9, 4.12 ERA) makes his second attempt at career victory No. 200. Cheap Air Max Shoes China . Thats how the Ravens won when Ryan was their defensive co-ordinator from 2005-08, and that is precisely the formula Baltimore used to beat Ryans New York Jets on Sunday. Nike Air max Shoes China . -- Jacksonville Jaguars rookie receiver Marqise Lee has agreed to terms on a four-year contract worth more than $5 million. http://www.cheapairmaxchina.us/ . - Free agent defensive end Will Smith has signed with the New England Patriots.The Montreal Canadiens received a spectacular goaltender effort from Carey Price in Game One at Boston. Scott Cullen has notes on Price, Tuukka Rask, P.K. Subban, Rene Bourque and more. HABS STEAL GAME ONE Despite being soundly outplayed by the hometown Boston Bruins, the Montreal Canadiens emerged from Game One with a 4-3 double-overtime win, thanks to G Carey Price, who stopped 48 of the 51 shots that he faced. Price had a career-best .927 save percentage this season, but he had a .904 save percentage in the first round sweep over Tampa Bay, so its not like this game was standard fare. During the regular season, Price had a dozen games during which he recorded at least 35 saves, ranking fifth in the league. What is important for the Canadiens, though, is that Price is capable of stealing games like this because thats likely what is going to be required if Montreal is going to upset a superior puck possession team. At the other end, Vezina Trophy favourite Tuukka Rask stopped 29 of 33 shots and he was critical of his own performance. Maybe a little hard on himself, as goalies can be, but it could also reflect some frustration. For as great as Rask has been to this point in his career -- he has the best save percentage in the league since 2009-2010 -- but has had his problems with Montreal, including a .908 save percentage in 17 regular-season games against the Habs and has yet to beat the Canadiens in Boston, now 0-9 after Game One. Montreal got a pair of goals -- their first and last -- from D P.K. Subban, who played a game-high 33:49 in Game One and now has seven points in five playoff games this season. Likely the most pleasant surprise of this postseason for the Habs has been LW Rene Bourque, who scored three goals against Tampa Bay in the first round and came up with a goal and an assist against Boston. The Bruins controlled play so thoroughly that LW Daniel Paille hhad their worst possession numbers, and he was still on for 51. Nike Air Max Supply From China. 9% of 5-on-5 shot attempts. Defencemen Dougie Hamilton and Zdeno Chara as well as C Patrice Bergeron and RW Reilly Smith were all on for better than 70% of shot attempts. There was an interesting allocation at the bottom of the Habs puck possession chart for this game. LW Travis Moen (17.4%) was at the very bottom, but the next four, all under 26%, were the shortest Habs -- RW Brendan Gallagher, C David Desharnais, C Daniel Briere and D Mike Weaver. The only two Canadiens over 50% in shot attempts were Bourque and Lars Eller. Its just one game, so this could mean nothing at all, but it might be worth watching to see if the Canadiens smaller players continue to have possession problems as the series progresses. Credit to Eller, by the way, for coming up with positive possession stats while starting with one offensive zone face-off compared to 17 in the defensive zone (5.6%) in Game One. One of the subplots of the game, from Montreals perspective, is that head coach Michel Therrien demoted RW Thomas Vanek from the first line to the fourth line from a point early in the second period until midway through the third period. Vanek finished the game with 18:58 of ice time, which ranked ninth among Montreal forwards. Certainly getting a Game One win on the road is favourable under any circumstances, but getting it in a game in which they were so thoroughly dominated is especially good for the Canadiens, who had to lean so heavily on their goaltending to even have a chance. Now, can they close the possession gap and try to take Game Two in Boston without requiring Price to deliver another out-of-this-world performance? Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '